arctic/extreme environments

The technology will provide Equinor a continual feed of updated reservoir information from its Johan Castberg and Johan Sverdrup fields with the aim of improving well placement, production, injection, and—ultimately—recovery.

Norway hopes for a continued rise in offshore exploration and development activity to ensure steady oil and gas production through the next decade.

On 21–22 March, The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) held the Arctic Safety Conference. Now, the PSA has made several of the presentations available for download.

Congress is close to lifting a 40-year-old ban on energy development in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but drilling for oil in that frozen wilderness may still be years away as the effort faces exhaustive environmental reviews and likely lawsuits.

Statoil has submitted a long-awaited development plan for what will become Norway’s northernmost development.

Federal regulators are taking comments on a draft environmental statement for the Liberty Project, a proposal by a subsidiary of Houston-based Hilcorp to create an artificial gravel island that would hold production wells and a processing facility in the Arctic.

Rutter, Statoil Canada, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador completed a collaborative research and development (R&D) project aimed at improving offshore oil and gas operations in harsh environments with ice conditions.

Cost and delivery of long-distance natural gas pipelines to a distant liquefaction facility at a warm-water port has become excessive, and environmental restraints have been increasing. An alternative is an offshore ice-resistant LNG port accommodating a new class of LNG transport vessels.

To reduce the risks to arctic pipelines from natural or geologic hazards, a more sophisticated approach to routing compared to traditional methods based on only the shortest length of pipe or connectivity to existing infrastructure is needed.

As the design methodologies evolve for arctic pipelines, strudel scour, permafrost thaw settlement, and ice gouging need to be factored in with environmental and geotechnical data, limit states, and trenching and backfilling activities.